Is it time you considered a digital detox?
For those of your who don’t know I have a background in IT. This means I am very comfortable with technology and love my smartphone. However I am for once a month to do a digital detox the reason is that I recognise that I live in an “always on” society. I am inundated on a daily basis with social media updates, text messages and emails. What’s worse are “always on” society ecpects us to be contactable at all times and to respond immediatley. Its no surprise that research has found a link between heavy smarphone usage and increased anxiety.
Did you know that smartphones are actually designed to distract us? They rob our brains of vitally important downtime preventing them from being creative. A digital detox allows my brain to reachage and focus on the present. No one needs to give you permission to go off grid for half a day and you don’t need to feel guilty either.
A digital detox can start simply as 45 minutes without using a smartphone, laptop, tablet or other device one evening a week and then build up slowly to a couple of hours. I find regular digital detox is hugely beneficial to my state of mind and can be easily incorporated into your routine.
Reference
Related Posts

Yet more how to chill out…
So in the past I have talked about how any activity can help you chill out as long as you enjoy it and it absorbs you including video games. But what about Origami? The ancient Japanese art of Origami has recently seen a surge in popularity due to the fact it can be done any-time, anywhere, with materials that are often to hand in stressful environments such as schools and offices. It may seem complicated, but thanks to YouTube, and online course platforms like Udemy, anyone can make learn to make simple creations from table decorations to paper aeroplanes without spending a fortune on expensive tools or equipment. According to paper folding guru Himanshsu Agrawal (who has five world records to his name- including the creation of a 44 foot human being and a 105 foot dinosaur!): “Origami is inherently geometric; as you fold from one end to the other, the movement becomes rhythmic. It soon feels like you are detached from the world.” The act of folding paper has been shown time and again to help decrease anxiety and increase feelings of inner calm. The beautiful film “Between the folds” takes a deeper look at the art of paper folding and it’s many benefits for health and its a good place to get more information.

How to chill out…
While it's impossible to lead a completely stress-free life, finding ways to unwind and “chill out” are key to retaining your energy levels and ultimately your sanity when you have a demaning job. There are as many techniques to decompress as there are human beings; but when it comes to finding inner calm, practices such as mindfulness, meditation and meditation are usually top of mind. Although these are great tools they don't appeal to everyone. Personally I love both yoga and adult colouring books. But what can you do it none of these apeal. My golden rule is any activity that is enjoyable and absorbs you to the extent that you aren't aware of the time and you stop thinking about work helps you unwind and chill out. So you can choose any activity that helps you distracting your mind from everyday pressures and you love. Once you have choose your activity do it often, and put it in your diary and don't feel guilty - we all need time out. One free, easy activity is just going for a stroll. I don't mean walking fast to hit your 10,00 steps per day target. Just go for a stroll for the sake of it.

Bates Method – Part 1
For most people their sight is their most important sense. This is probably due to the fact that about 80% of the information we take in via our sense is through our eyes. If you have impaired vision as I do, we all know the standard options:
- Glasses
- Contact lens
- Laser Eye Surgery
- Myopia or short-sightedness
- Hypermertropia or long-sightedness
- Presbyopia or “old-age” sight i.e. loss of reading vision as you get older
- Astigmatism

